In the middle ages, nobles and members of the church opted for a different method while talking to the common people. Even though the game was previously condemned by the church, they accepted it and used it extensively while conversing with the public.
In Italy, Jacobus de Cessolis used chess to communicate with the masses through cleverly constructed sermons. He used chess as an "allegory of society" (Yalom 68), and carefully illustrated the place of the common man. He considered chess to be an ideal comparison to the social hierarchy of the time. He didn't dismiss the lower classes as an indistinguishable mass (Yalom 68), but emphasized on the position and power of the king.
A book derived from his sermons, The Book of Chess, has detailed descriptions on his comparison of the general populace to their respective chess pieces. These descriptions clearly manifest the "catholic view of morality" (Yalom 69) that prevailed during the middle ages. A strong religious overtone is especially expressed while describing the role of the queen. He frequently juxtaposes sexual fidelity with her role to remind the audience where a woman's greatest virtue lay (Yalom 70). This among other descriptions of the queen were mainly to undermine her political significance by assigning her a pre-defined religious responsibility.
The moves of each piece were different but the symbolic representation was consistent. The king was allowed a move in which he could jump three squares. An addition to this rule was that he could take the queen with him for this initial move. This clearly was an attempt to remind the queen that she was under the king's jurisdiction (Yalom 71). Cessolis used such representations even when appealing to the common people.
Cessolis knew that to gain popularity with the common people, he should recognize them in a public religious gathering. He carried this out by assigning the professions of the common man to the respective number of pawns on the chess board. There is an entire section in his book dedicated to pawns and their professions in which it is shown that he meticulously covers all walks of life among the common folk. He mentions peasants, masons, merchants, physicians, innkeepers, guards, collectors and even criminals as being assigned places on the chess board (Yalom 71).
The important thing to note is not the mention of all these professions, but rather the fact that he validates their functions on the chessboard. He does this by describing the tools each of the "pawns" would carry. This simple mention of physical objects related to their trade gives a strong impression that their significance in society was noticed.
In Italy, Jacobus de Cessolis used chess to communicate with the masses through cleverly constructed sermons. He used chess as an "allegory of society" (Yalom 68), and carefully illustrated the place of the common man. He considered chess to be an ideal comparison to the social hierarchy of the time. He didn't dismiss the lower classes as an indistinguishable mass (Yalom 68), but emphasized on the position and power of the king.
A book derived from his sermons, The Book of Chess, has detailed descriptions on his comparison of the general populace to their respective chess pieces. These descriptions clearly manifest the "catholic view of morality" (Yalom 69) that prevailed during the middle ages. A strong religious overtone is especially expressed while describing the role of the queen. He frequently juxtaposes sexual fidelity with her role to remind the audience where a woman's greatest virtue lay (Yalom 70). This among other descriptions of the queen were mainly to undermine her political significance by assigning her a pre-defined religious responsibility.
The moves of each piece were different but the symbolic representation was consistent. The king was allowed a move in which he could jump three squares. An addition to this rule was that he could take the queen with him for this initial move. This clearly was an attempt to remind the queen that she was under the king's jurisdiction (Yalom 71). Cessolis used such representations even when appealing to the common people.
Cessolis knew that to gain popularity with the common people, he should recognize them in a public religious gathering. He carried this out by assigning the professions of the common man to the respective number of pawns on the chess board. There is an entire section in his book dedicated to pawns and their professions in which it is shown that he meticulously covers all walks of life among the common folk. He mentions peasants, masons, merchants, physicians, innkeepers, guards, collectors and even criminals as being assigned places on the chess board (Yalom 71).
The important thing to note is not the mention of all these professions, but rather the fact that he validates their functions on the chessboard. He does this by describing the tools each of the "pawns" would carry. This simple mention of physical objects related to their trade gives a strong impression that their significance in society was noticed.
After understanding the socio-religious implications of Cessolis's work, it is quite clear how The Book of Chess was second to only the Bible in numbers during the late 15th century. It is also a clear example of how a game like chess could be used to express a vicarious sense of social signifiance among people under a religious banner.
Works Cited:
Yalom, M. 2004. Birth of the Chess Queen. New York: HarperCollins.
This essay focuses on the use of chess as an allegory for religious, political and social power structures in Catholic Medieval Europe. It would be interesting to do an experiment with contemporary video games to explore how the core mechanic an be used as a cultural allegory.
Posted by: Celia Pearce | 09/13/2009 at 10:08 AM
I like the focus here on using chess as an allegory to support religious and social power systems. It would be interesting to try and experiment by trying to find a computer game whose mechanic could be used in the same way.
Posted by: Celia Pearce | 09/13/2009 at 10:11 AM